


the heat that drives the light

by lemonyellowlogic



Series: all you have is your fire and the place you need to reach [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Episode: s01e13 The Blue Spirit, Fluff, Gen, aang is happy, but first he needs to talk to iroh, sokka talks a tiny bit at the end but he's mainly just mentioned, zuko is confused and angry and hurt, zuko's gonna make some...different decisions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24875200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonyellowlogic/pseuds/lemonyellowlogic
Summary: “If we knew each other back then, do you think we could’ve been friends too?”The air grew still as both benders stared at each other. Then, Zuko let out a sigh, looking away, and he sat up, arms crossed and held close to his chest, “I don’t know, Avatar.”--what if instead of lashing out immediately, zuko answered?
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: all you have is your fire and the place you need to reach [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799935
Comments: 36
Kudos: 723





	the heat that drives the light

“You know the worst part about being born a hundred years ago is?”

Aang said as he stared at his knees. The sun had come up hours ago, and he knew Katara and Sokka still needed him, but he didn’t have it in his heart to leave Zuko alone and asleep in the woods.

Aang's heart pounded as Zuko looked at him. He didn’t seem angry, but Zuko had attacked him and his friends four times since he had come out of the iceberg a month before, and so he knew just being around him could be dangerous.

But still, Zuko risked his life to save Aang from Zhao anyways. Zuko was Fire Nation, the Fire Nation prince, and the Fire Nation was supposed to capture the Avatar, so why’d Zuko free him? 

Aang’s heart froze in his chest the night before after he and the masked figure worked together and then they put their swords to his throat, but he reflected on it all last night. He realized Zuko wasn’t going to hurt him, he was just making sure the two of them got out safely, but why?

Zuko had made it clear he wanted to capture the Avatar, but why?

Aang looked at Zuko as he replied to his own question, but looked away as his answer grew longer, “I miss all the friends I used to hang out with.”

He took a breath before continuing, holding his knees close to his chest, “Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend, Kuzon.”

Aang smiled to himself, “The two of us, we’d get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had, “ Aang’s small smile faded as he turned to look at Zuko, who stared back up at him expressionless, “And he was Fire Nation, just like you.”

Zuko’s lips pursed but Aang continued, looking away before back at the scarred Fire Nation boy, “If we knew each other back then, do you think we could’ve been friends too?”

The air grew still as both benders stared at each other. Then, Zuko let out a sigh, looking away, and he sat up, arms crossed and held close to his chest, “I don’t know, Avatar.”

“It’s Aang, actually.”

Zuko raised his eyebrow and pursed his lips again, “Okay then, Aang,” He said the name stretched out, letting his mouth get accustomed to it, “I don’t know if we would’ve been friends then, but we can’t be friends now.”

Aang froze before his shoulder slumped and he let out a slight sigh, “Why not?”

Zuko’s mouth opened a bit as his brow furrowed, it didn’t look like he was trying to glare but his scar turned his expression into one, “Why not? You’re an enemy of the fire nation, and you’re my enemy.”

“I’m not your enemy, Zuko, I’m not doing anything to hurt you!”

Now, Zuko’s look purposefully turned into a glare, “Just because you want to be friends with me doesn’t change the fact that we’re enemies.”

“It’s not a fact! And if we were enemies, then why’d you help me last night? Why’d you save me from Zhao?”

Zuko froze before pinching his brow, “I don’t-I had to, Zhao was-” He shook his head, “It doesn’t matter, Avatar. You’re the only thing standing in my way to go h-” Zuko cut himself off, looking to the side with his lips pursed and eyes narrowed, arms held closer to his chest than before.

“How am I in the way? You didn’t know me a month ago!”

“I’ve known about you my entire life, Avatar. Stories and tales, I’ve heard and read all of them. The avatar before you went against his country, my country, and I know you’ll do the same. You’ve already started doing it.”

“I’m not Roku, I’m my own person! But even if I was Roku, he didn’t do anything wrong!”

“He went against his Fire Lord!”

“And what’s so wrong about that? He was bad! He killed all of my people!”

Aang’s lip started to quiver and his voice was shaky as his shouts quieted and he slumped down again, “He’s the reason why I’m alone Zuko, he killed my people because of me. “

Zuko looked back at him, anger lining his face but slight confusion in his eyes, “I-no, the Air Nation had an army, they had to-”

Aang looked back at him, incredulous, “Army? We were pacifists! We didn’t do anything wrong! Sozin killed them just to find me, the Avatar.”

“I-I-what?”

Aang looked back at Zuko, tears lining his eyes, “They were just monks, Zuko. Without an army and just teaching air bending to new generations. The Fire Nation killed the Air Nomads because they were afraid of them, not because they rebelled.”

Zuko didn’t try responding, and he just looked back at Aang, his anger gone but his confusion grown tenfold and now mixed with shock. A few moments passed before he clutched his head in his hands, his ponytail loose and brushing against his neck. Aang took a leap of faith and jumped, floating down to sit next to Zuko.

“Are you okay?”

“I...I have to speak with Uncle.” 

Zuko jumped up, confusion, anger, and sadness draped across his face. He grabbed his _dao_ swords and his Blue Spirit mask, and made to walk away, but paused, turning back to Aang, “I...maybe one day, we could be friends.”

Aang reeled back, shocked, before a wide grin covered his face, “Really, Zuko?”

Zuko gave the boy a small, tense, close-lipped smile, “Really. I have to go. But…” He sighed, pinching his brow as he thought, “If you’re right, everything I know and everything I stand for will be lost. I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“You can...join us if you’d like?”

Now it was Zuko’s turn to reel back. He turned, slack-jawed and confused, “What?”

Aang became nervous, fidgeting with his feet and kicking the dirt, “Well, yeah. If you wanted, you can join me and help. If you’d like.”

“I…” Zuko swallowed, and he turned, “I don’t know.”

Aang let out a breath, but smiled, “That’s okay. You can think about it as long as you need to.”

“It might take me longer than you think, Avatar.”

“However long you need is completely okay, don’t worry about it!”

Zuko pursed his lips and turned around for the last time, “I need time, but I promise you, any attempts to capture you pause now. I need the real truth before I can continue...this.”

Zuko gestured with his hand before looking down and continued under his breath like it wasn’t meant for Aang to hear, “If my entire life..my entire banishment was formed on lies…”

Aang cleared his throat, and Zuko turned his head towards him. Aang gave the prince a short bow, with his hands in the flame like he remembered a hundred years ago to do, “Thank you, Zuko. I hope we can actually become friends one day, but now, I need to find some frozen frogs.”

Zuko’s lips twitched like he wanted to smile, but he instead sharply nodded, before turning and quickly walking away.

Aang grinned to himself, and he bounded away to collect some frogs.

\--

“Suck on these, It’ll make you feel better.” Aang gave a tired smile he wasn’t sure Katara or Sokka even noticed as he popped the frogs into the siblings’ mouths before yawning, walking slowly to Appa’s tail.

“Aang! How was your trip? Did you make any new friends?”

Aang tensed at the question before relaxing, throwing himself on the sky-bison’s fluffy fur.

He smiled, whispering to himself, “Yeah, I think I did,” before he turned over, and promptly fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first atla fic i've ever written, and i only watched the show for the first time a few weeks ago, so if any of the characters are ooc, i'm sorry!
> 
> i'm excited to write for this au, but i don't know when i'll be able to update it next, but when i do, it'll be zuko asking iroh for the truth, and it shall be angsty!
> 
> please comment, i love to see your thought and opinions on my work!


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